walleye/panfish rod?

[bigbritt]

i have been looking into a walleye/panfish rod. i have been looking at the avid medium 28" or the thorne 28" medium walleye sweatheart. i know these rods will handle the bigger stuff, but will they work the little panfish jigs all that well? or i am better off getting two rods instead? some of you are saying the ML are the best walleye/panfish rod, st. croix has the ML but didnt see anything at thorne.

[Captain B.R.K]

bigbritt, Take a look at this, Perch Sweet Heart Plus.

What I like about this rod is that I'm able to handle those small to medium size walleyes yet tackle those smaller to JUMBO size perch. This is the first rod I grab when I'm targeting either species. I also have the Walleye Sweet Heart and find it to be good for walleye and that's it.

I prefer to "play" the fish vs. just reel em' in and let them go concept. With that said, I prefer a little lighter rod so I get that "play" with smaller to larger fish and action in a softer tip/lighter backbone rod.

If I had to gauge what type of rod it is, I'd say it is a ML.

Now for panfish, which you had asked about as well, I would take a look at Panfish Sweet Heart Plus.

You'll have to decide if you are going to target panfish more often than walleyes/perch and vice versa. Once you have that settled, then the above rods will be a good choice for you.

BUT for an overall , best bang for your buck rod, stick with the Perch Sweet Heart Plus .

or you can do what I did and bought them both

[CrappieJohn]

I think a person needs to seperate the panfish from the walleye rods. That's just my personal opinion.

While the lightest of the lightweight rods used for finessing panfish and crappies will be more than enough to land a walleye of moderate size, whether or not a person can get a solid hookset is questionable.

On the other hand, the stiffer walleye rod may get the hook solidly into a pike, you may not be able to get the kind of fine action needed to tease crappies and sunfish. You might be able to add a spring to the stiffer rod and get some of the sweet touch, but would be far better off seperating the tasks.

[iffwalleyes]

The sweetheart perch will work good for walleyes and crappies but it probably is to heavy if you are targeting sunfish. I personally feel it is a little to light for walleye. They walleye sweetheart is the best walleye rod that I have used for walleyes which it what I am targeting 90% of the time. If you are considering Throne Rods you are looking at great rods. I have not found one of their rods that I dislike.

[huckleberry]

I just picked up a sweatheart plus rod the other day and all ice rods are 10% off at thorne bros right now. It's a honey of a rod! I also have a thorne bros perch rod and love that as well but when specifically targeting panfish - the sweatheart plus is going to be the cat's meow! I would recommend the thorne bros rod in a heartbeat and I don't own stock or work for them! Top notch rods!

[Sportland_Bait]

I started out last season with a couple of ML action rods. I wasn't happy with them for walleye fishing. I think they would be great perchin rods, but for walleye jigs I went up to the medium action. The medium worked much better. I also think it is tough to find a rod that works equally well for both walleyes and crappies.

Jason Erlandson

[bigbritt]

thanks fellas, looks like i am in the market for three setups (the panfish, walleye and perch sweathearts) and i will take the advice and get them from thorne. thanks all

[iffwalleyes]

I am sure you will be happy with them. I have all three of the ones you mention and they are all great.

[Matt Johnson]

That's a deadly combo there... Panfish Sweet Heart, Perch Sweet Heart, and Walleye Sweet Heart!! You will enjoy those rods, and that will surely cover all the bases whether you're looking to target bluegills, crappies, perch, walleye, bass... the list goes on.

[Roughfisher]

For walleyes and panfish I use a jig stick with no reel. It works great. I only use a reel while fishing for pike, lake trout, catfish, burbot, etc. No reason to bother using a reel when fishing panfish and walleyes.